Museum directors decry feared cuts to national arts agencies

Feb. 25, 2017

BOSTON (AP) — The heads of five Boston arts museums are pushing back against feared Trump administration cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The museums' directors say in an open letter that the agencies — and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — help foster knowledge of the arts, create cultural exchanges, generate jobs and tourism, and educate young people.

They say NEA and NEH funding has been instrumental at each of the Boston museums.

In one example, they point to grants that helped digitize the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum's collection.

The letter was signed by the directors of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, MIT List Visual Arts Center, Institute of Contemporary Art, Harvard Art Museums and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.